Murano with Barovier&Toso

In May 2021, Vraiment Beau decided to go to Venice. Just after the Italian lockdown ended, we were lucky enough to find the Serenissima emptied of the tourist crowds that usually crowd its quays.

We also visited wonderful Barovier & Toso on the island of Murano. As the name suggests, Barovier & Toso is the result of the 1936 merger of one of the world’s oldest family businesses, founded by Jacobello Barovier in 1295 in Murano, with the Toso glassworks, founded in 1854 in Murano as well.

Today, Barovier & Toso is the last glassmaker still producing on the island of Murano, on the Fondamenta Vetrai. Don’t hesitate to visit them on our behalf if you go to the island!

Barovier became one of Murano’s most prestigious glassmakers in 1470, when the Republic of Venice granted Angelo Barovier exclusive rights to the technique of Venetian crystal, which he had invented and which would make Murano famous. The Barovier and Toso families also invented the murrine technique.

Today, Barovier & Toso artisans perpetuate the blown-glass techniques developed for nearly a millennium, and produce exceptional pieces — chandeliers, vases… in the purest Venetian tradition. Barovier & Toso remains, in Italy and for connoisseurs around the world, the pinnacle of Venetian artisan glass.

We are very proud to offer on Vraiment Beau a selection from their superb collection.